Four-Line Poem on Secluded Life in Cursive Script

The Yeh collection is particularly rich in large scale hanging scrolls, perhaps because family members were attracted by their visual appeal and rarity. Hanging scrolls were not a common format for Chinese calligraphy until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Changes in taste during that period led to an interest in works featuring large characters in spontaneous, informal scripts being used to decorate studios and halls. Because of the way in which they were displayed, such scrolls were often damaged and relatively smaller numbers have survived. There are numerous areas of damage on this scroll. This unknown artist has created a dynamic work with very large characters in cursive script. The strokes are quickly and freely written in very dark ink. The speed of the brush and the length of some of the strokes create numerous areas of "flying white."

The content of these large pieces tended to consist of short, auspicious sayings or poems on landscape themes. This example
presents a four-sentence poem, each sentence containing seven characters. The poem suggests that a life of seclusion, fishing on rivers surrounded by peach blossoms, might be preferable to pursuing a career as an official.